Tense and Aspect of Verb

 

Tense and Aspect of Verb

Nidhu Bhusan Das

 

Verb is a word that says something (Predicate) in a sentence about something (Subject).What is said is the Predicate or predication made by the verb and about what or who it is said is the subject of the verb.

Predication is what the verb says in the sentence. Example: We play cricket.  Here “We” is the subject and “play cricket” is the predicate or predication.

Now Predication has reference to time Frame and state of action of a verb. The Time Frames (past, present, future) denotes Tense. Tense roughly means reference to the time at which events take place, or at which processes or states hold. The state of action refers to Aspect of the relevant verb. Thus verb tense shows the combination of Time Frames and Aspects. It can be expressed as Time Frames + Aspects = Complete Verb Tenses.

So, we have three Tenses – Past, Present and Future and

Four Aspects of the verb - Simple, progressive (Continuous), Perfect and Perfect Progressive

Simple tenses refer to actions of a specific time either in the present, past or future. They do not tell us if the action is finished. The simple tenses are Present (simple), past (simple) and future (simple).

Progressive (continuous) tenses indicate an action in progress, and not completed.
We have present progressive, past progressive and future progressive.

Perfect tenses show a completed action. We have present perfect, past perfect and future perfect tenses.

 Perfect progressive (continuous) tenses show an action in progress and eventually completed. We have present perfect progressive, past perfect progressive, future perfect progressive.

Present simple tense shows the present state or condition of something, a habitual action or universal truth. Example: I like to play cricket. (Habit), He is happy. (State), The sun rises in the east. (Universal Truth).

Present Progressive tense describes an action in progress at present. Example: I am reading Shakespeare.

Present Perfect tense shows an action already completed in the past but has an impact felt by the speaker at the time of speaking. Example: I have lost my purse.

The present perfect progressive tense describes an action that began in the past, continues into the present and is likely to continue into the future. Example: My brother has been doing his homework since morning.

 Past Simple tense shows an event or action which occurred in the past. Example: I was busy yesterday.

Past Progressive tense shows an event or action that was going on in the past. I was reading when she knocked on the door.

Past Perfect tense shows an event or action completed at a point of time in the past. Example: I had completed my homework by the time you came.

Past Perfect Progressive tense shows an action that began in the past, continued and ended in the past. Example: I had been reading till it was time for dinner.

Future Simple tense shows as action or event to occur in future. Example:  I shall go to Kolkata tomorrow.

Future Progressive tense shows an event or action in progress in future. Example: I shall be reading Shakespeare by this time tomorrow.

Future Perfect tense shows an event or action that is to be completed by a specific time in the future. Example: I shall have completed my homework before you come.

Future Perfect Progressive tense shows an action that begins in the present and will continue into the future. Example:  I shall have been reading Shakespeare for four hours when it is time for dinner.